Bermuda Commercial Bank is set to buy and move into the LP Gutteridge Building in Hamilton.

The purchase of the bank’s new 29,000 sq ft home was revealed today in the earnings statement of its parent company Somers Ltd.

It comes after a solid year for the bank, whose profits rose nearly 19 percent to $8.9 million in the year through the end of September.

Somers said the acquisition of the building was “a further sign of its commitment to Bermuda and long term planning” and was subject to Government approvals.

Without disclosing the price, the company said the building “was acquired at an attractive valuation with the objective of consolidating the Bank’s premises and eliminating annual rent payments”.

Somers added: “The LPG Building will be the home for BCB and other Somers companies moving forward and will provide the Bank with a suitable base for the medium and long term and somewhere in which it can continue to grow and attract business.”

BCB is currently based a little further north on the same street in the Bermuda Commercial Bank building at 19 Par-la-Ville Road.

Somers, which changed its name from Bermuda National Ltd last month, is a financial service investment holding company, which trades on the Bermuda Stock Exchange.

Somers posted net income of $13.8 million for the year through the end of September. Excluding one-off items including a $3.8 million gain that Somers recorded on its investment in West Hamilton Holdings Ltd, the underlying net income was $8.2 million.

“We are pleased with the company’s first year’s results as a listed company with BCB in particular continuing to report strong results with profit increasing by almost 20 percent year on year,” Somers chairman Warren McLeland said.

“It was excellent to note that Fitch Ratings recently reaffirmed BCB’s investment grade rating and revised the Bank’s outlook to stable.”

BCB recently named Peter Horton as CEO and completed the acquisition of J O Hambro Investment Management Ltd (JOHIM), a UK private wealth asset manager, during the summer.

Mr McLeland said: “JOHIM’s operating performance since the acquisition in August is positive and Somers and the JOHIM management team are working well together. The company’s other investments continue to perform in line with expectations.”

Somers’ board declared a final dividend of 20 cents per share, making a total dividend for the year of 32 cents, which represents an increase of almost ten percent from the total dividend paid to BCB shareholders for the year ended September 30, 2012.

For the quarter ended September 30, the Bank recorded a profit of $2.1 million on total revenue of $11 million.

For the full year, BCB recorded net income of $8.9 million, compared to $7.5 million in 2012. Total interest income for the year was $19.7 million ($18.9 million in 2012). Net non-interest income more than doubled to to $15.4 million from the $7.2 million recorded in 2012, thanks to strong gains from the Bank’s financial investments portfolio. Gains from the sale of financial investments were $14.7 million for the year compared to gains of $7.9 million in 2012.

Total assets as at September 30, 2013 were $591.7 million, up from $572 million a year earlier.

Total customer deposit balances increased to $467.5 million from $457.5 million as at September 30, 2012.

The Bank’s regulatory capital ratio was 20.7 percent at September 30, 2013 while the tier one ratio was 22.3 percent.

“The company’s balance sheet is strong and has no external debt,” Mr McLeland added. “We believe that there will be opportunities for the company’s investments to grow in 2014 and that we are well placed to benefit from this growth. We therefore look forward to 2014 with optimism.”